Engineering G protein-coupled receptor signalling in yeast for biotechnological and medical purposes

Abstract

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise the largest class of membrane proteins in the human genome, with a common denominator of seven-transmembrane domains largely conserved among eukaryotes. Yeast is naturally armoured with three different GPCRs for pheromone and sugar sensing, with the pheromone pathway being extensively hijacked for characterising heterologous GPCR signalling in a model eukaryote. This review focusses on functional GPCR studies performed in yeast and on the elucidated hotspots for engineering, and discusses both endogenous and heterologous GPCR signalling. Key emphasis will be devoted to studies describing important engineering parameters to consider for successful coupling of GPCRs to the yeast mating pathway. We also review the various means of applying yeast for studying GPCRs, including the use of yeast armed with heterologous GPCRs as a platform for (i) deorphanisation of orphan receptors, (ii) metabolic engineering of yeast for production of bioactive products and (iii) medical applications related to pathogen detection and drug discovery. Finally, this review summarises the current challenges related to expression of functional membrane-bound GPCRs in yeast and discusses the opportunities to continue capitalising on yeast as a model chassis for functional GPCR signalling studies.